With the cobbles behind us and after De Brabantse Pijl on Wednesday gave us a hint as to what the Ardennes has in store, the race status ratchets up a notch this weekend with the Amstel Gold Race. Team Bahrain Victorious will be at the start in Maastricht with a team focussed on being in contention six and a half hours later in Berg en Terblijt.
Sports director on Sunday will be Roman Kreuziger, who competed here on no fewer than 12 occasions, winning in 2013 and second six years ago:
“Amstel is one of my favourite races from the Ardennes, so I’m really hoping the guys will love it too and come with the right spirit. Apart from the start in Maastricht Market, the course is identical to last year: 33 climbs in total, over 253 km, and almost 3,500m of elevation. So that means the kind of racing we see more and more, with high speeds and even some of the faster guys doing well. Everyone will be on the limit so the cream will rise to the top, and the puncheurs & climbers will be in the game too. Amstel is one of those events you have to do a few times before you understand the dynamics, the crunch points, and where you actually are in the race.”
Chasing a top result at the 58th edition of Amstel Gold will be Fred Wright and Pello Bilbao, both coming to Limburg with racing in their legs and improving form.
“We have two of our big guns here on Sunday: Fred and Pello; Fred deserves to start as a leader, but it’s 50/50 whether he can be there at the end, depending on how the race plays out. I would love to see him up there fighting. Pello left the Basque Country very well, and he’s looking forward to being with us for the rest of the Ardennes block. He’s really happy to be here for a second time”
While both Pello and Fred have taken on the Netherlands’ only World Tour race once each, the most experienced riders in the Bahrain line-up are Lukasz Wisniowski and Yukiya Arashiro.
Kreuziger knows this could be crucial:
“Lukasz has plenty of experience at Amstel, so he can help guide the team as well as being here to support and protect our leaders. Not many will remember, but Yuki finished in the top ten here exactly a decade ago so he’s familiar with the course too. You know what you get with Yuki – he’s a solid, dependable guy, well-prepared every time he races, so I’m sure he’ll be invaluable in providing what our leaders need on race day.”
The parcours can be split into three phases, starting with an opening 120km, during which covering a breakaway will be the main priority. Phase two is when the climbs will start to bite, as the peloton tackles the legendary ascents of the Valkenberg, Cauberg & Gulperberg amongst others, and the first passage through the finish line. The bunch will be nervous as everyone jostles for position on the narrow roads, and it is in this stage that Fran Miholjevic, Matevž Govekar and Nicolò Buratti will take on responsibility for our leaders. Kreuziger explains:
“Fran is with us for the rest of the classics campaign, but obviously he is a bit tired having already started almost all the one-day races we have entered, including Roubaix last weekend. But last year he fell in love with this event, so we know he wants to show himself here. Matevž is still young, and while he’s disappointed after De Brabantse Pijl, but he was just super fresh in the early parts of Wednesday, and paid for that later on. NIcolò was more relaxed this week so if he has the legs he could be there or thereabouts come the finale, but it’s his debut here, so we hope rather than expect from such a young guy. But he has great character, great instincts and great shape; his job is to stay as long as he can with Fred and Pello.”
In this season’s classics we have seen winning solo attacks launched from 81km (Strade Bianche, Tadej Pogacar), more than 50km (Tour of Flanders & Paris-Roubaix, both Matthieu van der Poel), and 44km (E3 Saxo, also van der Poel). With that in mind, teams will be on the look out for an attack from the World Champion as soon as the third phase of the race starts at the foot of the Keerderberg with 70km to go. The Kruisberg, Eyserbosweg, Fromberg and Keutenberg (where Pogacar made his move 12 months ago) are all challenges that will reduce the number of riders in contention. 17.5km out the Cauberg makes its second appearance of the day, before the final uphill test of the Bemelerberg: 500 meters at 5.6%.
Amstel Gold is always a mouthwatering, unpredictable, fascinating battle for the iconic trophy, and the podium beer which – for one day only – replaces the traditional champagne. MvdP is understandably the clear favourite, but in Bilbao and Wright, Bahrain have two very strong cards to play. Kreuziger is confident this race can be one the team will remember for a long time to come…
“On paper, our objective is top ten, but I really believe we can achieve something even more special than that on Sunday.”
The Amstel Gold Race 2024 starts at 10:40 CEST, and is scheduled to finish at around 17:00.